Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to regulate pub-owning companies and breweries with fewer than 500 tied tenants.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government currently has no plans to consider regulating pub owning companies with less than 500 tied tenants, or to regulate breweries. Pub owning businesses that don’t meet the qualifying threshold for the Pubs Code can, however, join a voluntary scheme administered by the Pub Governing Body. This scheme, also known as the Voluntary Pubs Code, provides signatories with a dispute resolution service and fair methods of determining rent by an independent expert.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to publish a response to the Statutory review of Pubs Code and Pubs Code Adjudicator 2022 to 2025.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The third statutory review covering the period 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2025 is in progress and the government’s report will be published as soon as practicable. My officials are currently analysing the evidence collected from last year’s call for evidence and from other publicly available sources. Stakeholder responses to the call for evidence have greatly assisted my officials in identifying emerging themes and are further informing the review’s content. I am grateful for the helpful input provided by stakeholders and will continue to engage with them in taking forward the conclusions to the review.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Florence Eshalomi (Chair); Lewis Cocking; Andrew Cooper; Chris Curtis